|Publication number||US7377914 B2|
|Application number||US 11/172,191|
|Publication date||May 27, 2008|
|Filing date||Jun 30, 2005|
|Priority date||Jun 29, 2004|
|Also published as||CA2571117A1, CA2660858A1, CA2672559A1, CN1745729A, CN100522121C, CN101116644A, CN101116644B, DE602005023457D1, EP1761227A2, EP1761227B1, US6962578, US20050288645, US20070173780, WO2006004872A2, WO2006004872A3|
|Publication number||11172191, 172191, US 7377914 B2, US 7377914B2, US-B2-7377914, US7377914 B2, US7377914B2|
|Inventors||Gary Dean Lavon|
|Original Assignee||The Procter & Gamble Company|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (113), Non-Patent Citations (3), Referenced by (19), Classifications (30), Legal Events (3)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/880,135 filed on 29 Jun. 2004 and at the time of filing the present application, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,962,578 issued on 8 Nov. 2005.
This invention relates to disposable absorbent articles such as disposable diapers and other articles intended for use on incontinent persons.
Disposable absorbent articles are designed to absorb and contain bodily waste in order to prevent soiling of the body and clothing of the wearer, as well as bedding or other objects with which the wearer comes into contact.
As the usage of disposable absorbent articles has expanded, their complexity has increased with the incorporation of additional features serving to enhance their performance and appearance. The costs of the materials and the costs of the manufacturing processes have also increased in conjunction with the increase in complexity. As a result, the prices at which these articles are sold have risen to levels that many potential purchasers around the world cannot afford to pay. Thus, a need exists for a simple disposable absorbent article.
The present invention provides a disposable absorbent article including two laterally opposing longitudinally extending backsheet strips attached to an exterior surface of an absorbent assembly in laterally opposing, attachment zones. Each backsheet strip may include a water-impermeable layer and may be extensible. The absorbent assembly includes laterally opposing side flaps which may be formed by folding portions of the absorbent assembly laterally inward. A longitudinally extending elastic gathering member is attached to each side flap adjacent to its proximal edge. When the article is worn, the elastic gathering members contract and raise the side flaps to form side barriers. The absorbent assembly includes an absorbent core that may contain superabsorbent particles, which may be contained inside pockets. A portion of the absorbent assembly such as the portion that lies between the backsheet strip attachment zones may be extensible and may include a water-impermeable layer.
In the accompanying drawing figures, like reference numerals identify structurally corresponding elements, which may or may not be identical in the several exemplary embodiments that are depicted. Some of the figures may have been simplified by the omission of selected elements for the purpose of more clearly showing other elements. Such omissions of elements in some figures are not necessarily indicative of the presence or absence of particular elements in any of the exemplary embodiments, except as may be explicitly delineated in the corresponding written description.
In the drawing figures and in the written description, lowercase letters appended to reference numerals indicate generally symmetric elements, e.g., the left and right side edges of the absorbent assembly 200 are respectively identified by the reference numerals 237 a and 237 b. A reference numeral without an appended lowercase letter identifies all of the elements to which that particular reference numeral applies, e.g., the same side edges as a group are designated 237.
In this description, the following terms have the following meanings:
The term “absorbent article” refers to a device that absorbs and contains liquid, and more specifically, refers to a device that is placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain the various exudates discharged from the body.
The term “diaper” refers to an absorbent article that is generally worn by infants and incontinent persons about the lower torso so as to encircle the waist and the legs of the wearer and that is specifically adapted to receive and contain urinary and fecal waste.
The term “disposable” refers to the nature of absorbent articles that generally are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused as an absorbent article, i.e., they are intended to be discarded after a single use and, preferably, to be recycled, composted or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally compatible manner.
The term “longitudinal” refers to a direction running from a waist edge to an opposing waist edge of the article and generally parallel to the maximum linear dimension of the article. Directions within ±45° of the longitudinal direction are considered to be “longitudinal”.
The term “lateral” refers to a direction running from a side edge to an opposing side edge of the article and generally at a right angle to the longitudinal direction. Directions within ±45° of the lateral direction are considered to be “lateral”.
The term “disposed” refers to an element being attached and positioned in a particular place or position in a unitary structure with other elements.
The term “attached” refers to elements being connected or united by fastening, adhering, bonding, etc. by any method suitable for the elements being attached together and their constituent materials. Many suitable methods for attaching elements together are well-known, including adhesive bonding, pressure bonding, thermal bonding, mechanical fastening, etc. Such attachment methods may be used to attach elements together over a particular area either continuously or intermittently.
The term “cohesive” refers to the property of a material that, once set, sticks to itself but does not to any significant degree stick to other materials.
The terms “water-permeable” and “water-impermeable” refer to the penetrability of materials in the context of the intended usage of disposable absorbent articles. Specifically, the term “water-permeable” refers to a layer or a layered structure having pores, openings, and/or interconnected void spaces that permit liquid water to pass through its thickness in the absence of a forcing pressure. Conversely, the term “water-impermeable” refers to a layer or a layered structure through the thickness of which liquid water cannot pass in the absence of a forcing pressure. A layer or a layered structure that is water-impermeable according to this definition may be permeable to water vapor, i.e., may be “water vapor-permeable”. Such a water vapor-permeable layer or layered structure is commonly known in the art as “breathable”. As is well known in the art, a common method for measuring the permeability to water of the materials typically used in absorbent articles is a hydrostatic pressure test, also called a hydrostatic head test or simply a “hydrohead” test. Suitable well known compendial methods for hydrohead testing are approved by INDA (formerly the International Nonwovens and Disposables Association, now The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry) and EDANA (European Disposables And Nonwovens Association).
The terms “proximal” and “distal” refer respectively to the location of an element relatively near to or far from the center of a structure, e.g., the proximal edge of a longitudinally extending element is located nearer to the longitudinal axis than the distal edge of the same element is located relative to the same longitudinal axis.
The terms “interior” and “exterior” refer respectively to the location of an element that is intended to be placed against or toward the body of a wearer when an absorbent article is worn and the location of an element that is intended to be placed against or toward any clothing that is worn over the absorbent article. Synonyms for “interior” and “exterior” include, respectively, “inner” and “outer”, as well as “inside” and “outside”. Also, when the absorbent article is oriented such that its interior faces upward, e.g., when it is laid out in preparation for setting the wearer on top of it, synonyms include “upper” and “lower” and “top” and “bottom”, respectively.
Description of Exemplary Diaper Embodiments
As shown in
The basic structure of the diaper 20 includes an absorbent assembly 200, which has a front edge 236, a back edge 238, a left side edge 237 a, a right side edge 237 b, an interior surface 202, and an exterior surface 204. A longitudinal axis 42 extends through the midpoints of the front edge 236 and the back edge 238 and a lateral axis 44 extends through the midpoints of the left side edge 237 a and the right side edge 237 b. The absorbent assembly 200 has laterally opposing side flaps 247 a and 247 b that are described in more detail below.
The basic structure of the diaper 20 also includes two laterally opposing longitudinally extending backsheet strips designated the left backsheet strip 100 a and the right backsheet strip 100 b. The backsheet strips have respective left front waist edge 136 a and right front waist edge 136 b, left back waist edge 138 a and right back waist edge 138 b, left strip proximal edge 156 a and right strip proximal edge 156 b, left interior surface 102 a and right interior surface 102 b, left exterior surface 104 a and right exterior surface 104 b. The two backsheet strips 100 extend laterally beyond the side edges 237 of the absorbent assembly 200 and thereby define a left side edge 137 a and a right side edge 137 b of the diaper 20.
As shown in
As shown in
A portion or the whole of each of the backsheet strips may be formed of an elastically extensible material or materials. Alternatively, or in addition, a portion or the whole of each of the backsheet strips may be made extensible to a degree greater than the inherent extensibility of the material or materials from which the backsheet strip is made. Similarly, a portion or the whole of the absorbent assembly may be formed of an elastically extensible material or materials. Alternatively or in addition, a portion or the whole of the absorbent assembly may be made extensible to a degree greater than the inherent extensibility of the material or materials from which the absorbent assembly is made. The additional extensibility may be desirable in order to allow the diaper 20 to conform to the body of a wearer during movement by the wearer. Additional lateral extensibility may be particularly desirable to allow the user of a diaper to extend the front waist region and/or the back waist region to encircle the waist of a wearer, i.e., to tailor the waist size and fit of a diaper to the individual wearer. Such a lateral extension of the waist region or regions may give the diaper a generally hourglass shape and may impart a tailored appearance to the diaper when it is worn. In addition, the additional extensibility may be desirable in order to minimize the cost of the diaper, because a relatively lesser amount of material is needed when the material is made extensible as described.
For the purpose of fitting to the waist of the wearer, in some embodiments additional lateral extensibility in the absorbent assembly 200 is provided only between the laterally opposing attachment zones 220 a and 220 b where the absorbent assembly 200 and the backsheet strips 100 a and 100 b are attached together, rather than in the entire absorbent assembly.
Additional extensibility in the backsheet strips and/or the absorbent assembly may be provided in a variety of ways. For example, a material or materials from which the backsheet strips and/or the absorbent assembly is/are made may be pleated by any of many known methods. Alternatively, all or a portion of the backsheet strips and/or the absorbent assembly may be made of a formed web material or a formed laminate of web materials like those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,801 issued on 21 May 1996 in the name of Chappell et al. An exemplary fragment 300 of such a formed web material 305 is shown in
Such a formed web material 305 can be laterally extended beyond its original dimension with the application of relatively less force than that required to extend the same material to the same extent when undeformed. In particular, the application of opposing divergent forces directed generally perpendicular to the ridges 312 and valleys 314 extends such a formed web material along an axis between the opposing forces and generates a resistive contractive force, primarily in the unaltered regions 316. This resistive force is relatively smaller than the resistive force that is generated by the same material in its unaltered form when extended to the same extent, at least up to an extension at which the ridges and valleys in the altered regions flatten and begin to contribute to the resistive force. Thus, such formed web materials exhibit an extensible behavior resembling that of traditional elastic materials in the range of extensibility that is useful in absorbent articles, but may be made of relatively less expensive materials that are not inherently elastic and, thus, their use may provide an advantage in terms of the cost of manufacturing the absorbent articles.
In addition, different portions of the backsheet strips and/or the absorbent assembly may be formed to have different ranges of extensibility and/or to be extensible to a greater or lesser degree when subjected to a given level of opposing tensile forces, i.e., to be relatively more easily or less easily extensible. Such differential extensibility may be desirable so that, for example, one or both of the waist regions may be laterally extended relatively farther or relatively more easily than the crotch region.
Description of the Backsheet Strips
The diaper 20 includes two laterally opposing longitudinally extending backsheet strips designated the left backsheet strip 100 a and the right backsheet strip 100 b as shown in
Alternatively or in addition, each backsheet strip may include a water-impermeable layer that is formed of a suitable material, for example a film of polyethylene or another polyolefin, a microporous breathable film, a hydrophobic nonwoven, or a film formed of coextruded polyolefin layers. For example, a suitable coextruded film is available from Clopay Plastic Products Co. of Mason, Ohio, U.S.A. under the designation of M18-327. A multi-layer backsheet strip, such as a laminate of a film and a nonwoven, may also be suitable and may be oriented with the nonwoven disposed exteriorly to provide the feel and appearance of a cloth-like outermost layer, with the nonwoven disposed interiorly to separate the film from the skin of the wearer, or with nonwovens disposed both exteriorly and interiorly.
The front waist region and the back waist region can be fastened together to encircle the waist and the legs of the wearer in many ways. For example, separate fastening devices such as safety pins, separate tapes, a separate tie strap or straps, and/or a separate belt can be used for this purpose. Alternatively or in addition, fastening elements can be incorporated into the disposable absorbent article to enable a user to apply the diaper to the body of the wearer without, or in conjunction with, any separate fastening devices. Many suitable types of such incorporated fastening elements are well-known, including, for example, tapes, adhesives, adhesive tape tabs, ties, buttons, hooks, loops, snap fasteners, other forms of mechanical fasteners, cohesive patches, etc. Some suitable mechanical fasteners may be adapted to engage with a nonwoven, e.g., a nonwoven layer of a laminate backsheet.
The fastening of the front waist region and the back waist region together may be openable and refastenable to allow for the adjustment of the fit of the diaper on the wearer and for the inspection of the interior of the diaper without fully removing it from the wearer. Alternatively, the fastening may be permanent, i.e., its opening may require the destruction of a portion of the diaper, e.g., the tearing of a portion of the diaper or the breaking of fused side seams.
Cohesive fastening patches may be formed by the application of a cohesive material onto a substrate. The cohesive material may be applied in any of a variety of patterns, such as a continuous film, discrete dots, stripes, polygons, etc., and/or spaced and interconnected geometric elements describing a grid. Suitable synthetic cohesive products are available from Andover Coated Products, Incorporated, of Salisbury, Mass., U.S.A. and are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,424 issued on 5 Dec. 2000 in the name of Taylor.
Such cohesive fastening patches may be disposed on the exterior of the diaper 20. For example, as shown in
Alternatively, the front cohesive fastening patches may be disposed on the interior of the diaper 20 and the back cohesive fastening patches may be disposed on the exterior of the diaper 20 in order to adapt the configuration for front-over-back fastening. Alternatively, the cohesive fastening patches may be disposed in a reversible configuration that is adapted to provide the user of the diaper with both options for fastening, i.e., either back-over-front or front-over-back, according to personal preference. For example, cohesive fastening patches that are disposed on both the exterior and the interior of the diaper 20 may allow a back cohesive fastening patch to overlap a front cohesive fastening patch or the front cohesive fastening patch to overlap the back cohesive fastening patch.
When the underlying portion of the diaper is extensible, it is preferable that the cohesive fastening patches be similarly extensible such that the underlying extensible portion of the diaper is not restrained.
Alternatively, adhesive tape tabs may be attached to the diaper 20 and may be used to fasten the back waist region 38 and the front waist region 36 together. For example, as shown in
Optionally, fastening sheets may also be attached to the diaper 20 and used in conjunction with such adhesive tape tabs. For example, fastening sheets 116 a and 116 b may be attached onto the exterior surfaces 104 a and 104 b of the respective backsheet strips 100 a and 100 b as shown in
Description of the Absorbent Assembly
As shown in
In embodiments in which portions of the absorbent assembly 200 are folded laterally inward to form the side flaps 247 a and 247 b, the absorbent assembly 200 may simply be folded loosely or may be creased along a portion of each of its side edges 237 a and 237 b. For example, it may be desirable to form creases along portions of the side edges 237 a and 237 b in the crotch region 37 in order to impart a more finished appearance to the diaper 20. Alternatively or in addition to creasing, a portion of each of the folded side flaps 247 a and 247 b adjacent to the side edges 237 a and 237 b may be attached to the interior surface 202 of the absorbent assembly 200 to achieve a similar result.
The side flaps may overlap the absorbent core 250, i.e., the proximal edges 255 a and 255 b of the side flaps may lie laterally inward of the respective left side edge 257 a and right side edge 257 b of the absorbent core 250. Alternatively, the side flaps may not overlap the absorbent core. The side flaps preferably are water vapor-permeable, i.e., breathable, at least in the crotch region 37 where they form side barriers when the diaper is worn, as described in detail below.
In the exemplary diaper 20 shown in
Each of the side flaps 247 a and 247 b is attached to the interior surface 202 of the absorbent assembly 200 in attachment zones located at or adjacent to the front edge 236 and the back edge 238. For example, in the diaper 20 shown in
Between the attachment zones, the proximal edges 255 a and 255 b of the side flaps 247 a and 247 b remain free, i.e., are not attached to the interior surface 202 of the absorbent assembly 200. Also between the attachment zones, each side flap preferably includes a longitudinally extensible flap elastic member that is attached adjacent to the proximal edge of the side flap. For example, in the diaper 20 shown in
When stretched, the flap elastic members allow the proximal edges of the side flaps to extend to the flat uncontracted length of the absorbent assembly, as shown in
As shown in
The absorbent assembly 200 may include an upper covering sheet that is disposed in a face-to-face arrangement with the interior surface 252 of the absorbent core 250 in addition to a lower covering sheet that is disposed in a face-to-face arrangement with the exterior surface 254 of the absorbent core 250 and the interior surfaces 102 a and 102 b of the respective backsheet strips 100 a and 100 b. If both are present, such an upper covering sheet and lower covering sheet may be attached together to contain the absorbent core 250 between them and thereby form the absorbent assembly 200. For example, in the exemplary absorbent assembly 200 shown in
The upper covering sheet is water-permeable and allows liquid bodily waste to pass through its thickness to the absorbent core. The upper covering sheet preferably is formed of a soft material that will not irritate the skin of the wearer, for example a synthetic nonwoven such as spunbonded or carded polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, or rayon.
The lower covering sheet may include a water-permeable layer of any suitable material, for example the same material as the upper covering sheet. A portion or the whole of either or both of the upper covering sheet and the lower covering sheet may be water vapor-permeable, i.e., breathable.
Alternatively or in addition, the lower covering sheet may include a water-impermeable layer that is formed of a suitable material, for example a film of polyethylene or another polyolefin, a microporous breathable film, a hydrophobic nonwoven, or a film formed of coextruded layers of polyolefin layers. For example, a suitable coextruded film is available from Clopay Plastic Products Co. of Mason, Ohio, U.S.A. under the designation of M18-327. A multi-layer lower covering sheet, such as a laminate of a film and a nonwoven, may also be suitable and may be oriented with the nonwoven disposed exteriorly to provide the feel and appearance of a cloth-like outermost layer, with the nonwoven disposed interiorly to separate the film from the skin of the wearer, or with nonwovens disposed both exteriorly and interiorly.
The upper covering sheet and the lower covering sheet may extend to the same width and the same length. Alternatively, one or more of the edges of one of the covering sheets may lie distally relative to the respective edge or edges of the other covering sheet. For example, the upper covering sheet may extend longitudinally only to an extent sufficient to cover the absorbent core and to be attached to the lower covering sheet adjacent to either the front or the back edge of the absorbent core, while the lower covering sheet may extend longitudinally beyond the upper covering sheet toward or to the adjacent waist edges of the backsheet strips. Such a longitudinally extended lower covering sheet may serve to isolate the skin of the wearer from a portion of the backsheet strips as may be desirable, for example, when the diaper is worn under conditions in which contact between the skin and a backsheet film could be uncomfortable. Similarly, the upper covering sheet may extend laterally only to an extent sufficient to cover the absorbent core, or to an extent sufficient to be attached to the lower covering sheet adjacent to either the left or the right side edge of the absorbent core. The lower covering sheet may extend laterally beyond the upper covering sheet. For example, in the exemplary absorbent assembly 200 shown in
The absorbent assembly and the backsheet strips may be attached together over any part or the whole of the length of the absorbent assembly. Preferably, the absorbent assembly is attached on its exterior surface to the backsheet strips in laterally opposing longitudinally extending attachment zones such as the exemplary attachment zones 220 a and 220 b shown in
Within the extent of the attachment zones, the absorbent assembly may be attached to the backsheet strips continuously or intermittently. For example, a film of an adhesive may be applied continuously over the entire area of the attachment zones and then used to continuously attach the absorbent assembly to the backsheet strips. As an alternative example, an adhesive may be applied discontinuously at and inside the boundaries of the attachment zones, such as in the form of dots, stripes, beads, spirals, etc., and then used to attach the absorbent assembly to the backsheet strips.
The absorbent core may be attached to the lower covering sheet over any part or the whole of the area of the absorbent core. Preferably, the absorbent core is attached on its exterior surface to the lower covering sheet in a cruciform attachment pattern, i.e., in an attachment pattern that forms or is arranged in a cross or “+” shape. The cruciform attachment pattern may be contiguous, i.e., all of its portions may be touching or connected throughout the pattern in an unbroken sequence, or may include detached portions and thereby lack contiguity but still be arranged such that the shape of the overall pattern is a cruciform. An exemplary contiguous cruciform attachment pattern 210 is shown in
Within the extent of the cruciform attachment pattern, the absorbent core may be attached to the lower covering sheet continuously or intermittently. For example, a film of an adhesive may be applied continuously over the entire area of the cruciform attachment pattern and then used to continuously attach the absorbent core to the lower covering sheet. As an alternative example, an adhesive may be applied discontinuously at and inside the boundaries of the cruciform attachment pattern, such as in the form of dots, stripes, beads, spirals, etc., and then used to attach the absorbent core to the lower covering sheet.
The absorbent core 250 includes a storage component 272 that serves to absorb and retain liquid bodily waste materials. Suitable known materials for the absorbent core storage component include cellulose fibers in the form of comminuted wood pulp, which is commonly known as “airfelt”, layers or sheets of a natural or synthetic fibrous material or materials, a superabsorbent polymer or polymers, etc. These absorbent materials may be used separately or in combination. Many known absorbent materials may be used in a discrete form, i.e., in the form of fibers, granules, particles, and the like. Such a discrete form of an absorbent material may be immobilized by an adhesive that attaches the discrete pieces together to form a coherent layer or that attaches the discrete pieces to a substrate layer or that attaches the discrete pieces both to each other and to the substrate layer.
The absorbent core may include an acquisition component in addition to one or more storage components. The absorbent core acquisition component serves to acquire deposited liquid bodily waste material and transfer it to the absorbent core storage component. Any porous absorbent material which will imbibe and partition liquid bodily waste material to the storage component or components may be used to form the acquisition component. Preferred materials for the acquisition component include synthetic fiber materials, open celled polymeric foam materials, fibrous nonwoven materials, cellulosic nonwoven materials, and various combination synthetic/cellulosic nonwoven materials. For example, the acquisition component may be formed of a nonwoven web or webs of synthetic fibers including polyester, polypropylene, and/or polyethylene, natural fibers including cotton and/or cellulose, blends of such fibers, or any equivalent materials or combinations of materials. Examples of such acquisition materials are more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,264 issued to Osborn on Aug. 21, 1990. High loft nonwoven acquisition materials suitable for the acquisition component of the present invention can be obtained from Polymer Group, Inc., (PGI), 450 N.E. Blvd, Landisville, N.J. 08326, U.S.A., under the material code designation of 98920.
Such an absorbent core acquisition component 290 is shown overlying the absorbent core storage component 272 in
As shown in
The absorbent assembly may include an additional bottom sheet of a film or other water-impermeable material to enhance the protection against leakage. For example, as shown in
When such an additional bottom sheet is attached inside the absorbent assembly between the lower covering sheet and the absorbent core, the additional bottom sheet may be attached to the lower covering sheet in a cruciform attachment pattern similar to that shown in
Alternatively or in addition, the additional bottom sheet in such an embodiment may be attached in such a cruciform attachment pattern to the absorbent core, thus leaving the portions of the additional bottom sheet that lie outside the cruciform attachment pattern unrestrained by attachment to the absorbent core and therefore allowing these portions to be extensible. In such an embodiment, even if the additional bottom sheet is attached to the lower covering sheet in a pattern other than a cruciform, the lower covering sheet is not indirectly restrained by the absorbent core and therefore is allowed to be extensible.
Description of Shape of Article
The finished diaper may have a generally rectangular shape, as in the exemplary diaper 20 shown in
A non-rectangular configuration of the diaper may be formed in any one of several ways. For example, laterally distal portions may be removed from the diaper to make its lateral dimension at and adjacent to the lateral axis 44 smaller than its lateral dimension at and adjacent to the front waist edge 136 and smaller than its lateral dimension at and adjacent to the back waist edge 138, i.e., to make the diaper narrower in the crotch region 37 than at the waist edges. An exemplary form of such a non-rectangular configuration of the diaper is shown in
Alternatively, a portion of each of the side edges 137 a and 137 b may be folded laterally inward in order to form a non-rectangular configuration of the diaper. For example, as shown in
As another alternative, the backsheet strips may be made longitudinally discontinuous in order to form a non-rectangular configuration of the diaper. For example, as shown in
The disclosures of all patents, patent applications and any patents which issue thereon, as well as any corresponding published foreign patent applications, and all publications listed and/or referenced in this description, are hereby incorporated in their entireties herein by reference. It is expressly not admitted that any of the documents or any combination of the documents incorporated herein by reference teaches or discloses the present invention.
While particular embodiments and/or individual features of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, it should be apparent that all combinations of such embodiments and features are possible and can result in preferred executions of the invention. Therefore, the following claims are intended to cover all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
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|US3924626||Dec 8, 1972||Dec 9, 1975||Int Paper Co||Rectangular disposable diaper having a contoured absorbent pad|
|US3926189 *||Aug 5, 1974||Dec 16, 1975||Colgate Palmolive Co||Selectively positionable diaper assembly|
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|1||Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration dated Oct. 4, 2006.|
|2||U.S. Appl. No. 11/159,916, filed Jun. 23, 2005, LaVon et al.|
|3||U.S. Appl. No. 11/286,614, filed Nov. 23, 2005, LaVon.|
|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US8979815||Dec 10, 2012||Mar 17, 2015||The Procter & Gamble Company||Absorbent articles with channels|
|US9060904||Jun 18, 2008||Jun 23, 2015||The Procter & Gamble Company||Disposable absorbent article with sealed absorbent core with substantially continuously distributed absorbent particulate polymer material|
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|WO2010120705A1||Apr 13, 2010||Oct 21, 2010||The Procter & Gamble Company||Absorbent articles comprising wetness indicators|
|WO2014052540A1||Sep 26, 2013||Apr 3, 2014||The Procter & Gamble Company||Liquid-activated formulation with hot melt binding matrix|
|WO2014052547A1||Sep 26, 2013||Apr 3, 2014||The Procter & Gamble Company||Liquid-activated formulation with solvent-based binding matrix|
|WO2014052564A1||Sep 26, 2013||Apr 3, 2014||The Procter & Gamble Company||Liquid-activated formulation with permanent colorant|
|WO2016022795A1||Aug 6, 2015||Feb 11, 2016||The Procter & Gamble Company||Wetness indicator with permanent colorant|
|U.S. Classification||604/385.28, 604/385.24, 604/385.27|
|International Classification||A61F13/494, A61F13/20, A61F13/15, A61F13/49, A61F13/539|
|Cooperative Classification||A61F13/539, A61F13/514, A61F13/49017, A61F13/49009, A61F13/49, A61F13/5323, A61F13/49413, A61F13/49015, A61F13/49014, A61F13/49011, A61F13/5633|
|European Classification||A61F13/49D2, A61F13/49D2B, A61F13/494A1, A61F13/514, A61F13/49D2E, A61F13/532B, A61F13/49D2D2, A61F13/56C, A61F13/539, A61F13/49, A61F13/49D2D|
|Jan 13, 2009||CC||Certificate of correction|
|Sep 23, 2011||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|Jan 8, 2016||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|